NSA Spying Program Charges Toward Expansion

The spying program made famous by NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, was set to expire January 19

Senators voted 60-38 to end legislative debates and renew government surveillance powers

A final vote to approve the NSA program’s expansion as soon as Wednesday

For what feels like the first time in months, Senate Democrats and Republicans are working together on bipartisan legislation. Unfortunately, that legislation expands the U.S. government’s mass surveillance regime. Despite objections from privacy advocates, the culmination of a years-long debate on the scope of NSA surveillance came to resolution on Tuesday, January 16. In a preliminary 60-38 vote, Senators chose to stop all discourse delaying the expansion of the NSA’s spying program.

The spying program, formalized under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), authorizes the NSA to demand the digital communications of foreigners from outside the U.S. This communication data comes from telecoms like Verizon and Comcast, as well as Facebook, Google, and other tech giants. In the mass-collection process, digital communications of U.S. citizens are oft-included in the data.

A week before the Senate vote, the House of Representatives voted 256-164 to renew and expand the NSA’s mass surveillance powers. Following the House vote, lawmakers supported an amendment that would have included more privacy protections for Americans’ information. Regrettably, that amendment — which sought stricter requirements for intelligence agencies to scrutinize Americans’ data — failed to pass. In an appalling (though, entirely unsurprising) move, the U.S. Senate took a step closer toward warrantless spying on digital communications, both foreign and domestic.

On paper, the U.S. Senate had the power to reign-in the NSA’s overreach and do something about its mass surveillance tactics. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) even vowed to filibuster the measure, should the vote pass, but quite clearly, they’ve since relented.

The final Senate vote to reauthorize and expand FISA Section 702 is expected next week, perhaps Wednesday or Thursday. Should the final bill pass through Senate and receive the president’s signature, it will allow the program to continue for another six years. The final passage would seemingly close the door on the spying debate, but the debate is especially one-sided.

In the end, it appears that Congress prefers the NSA continue spying on everyone in the name of national security. Even amid the public outrage from the 2013 disclosures of NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, legislators will forfeit the privacy of their constituents without hesitation. Worst of all, U.S. citizens themselves have surveillance fatigue. There’s an assumption that the NSA is already keeping tabs on their every move, and that means even fewer people are paying attention to the expansions in government surveillance.